Book of Dead Game Review
It is undeniable that Book of Dead is very similar to Book of Ra, which is one of the most popular physical slot machines of all time. Some might call it a rip-off, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a very good game. Shakespeare stole like a raven, as most artists did. The same goes for slot machines and games. We will focus on the quality of the game itself and what it has to offer.
Book of Dead was first released in January 2014, and it has become one of the most popular online slots for British players. Play’n Go did a great job in creating this adventurous game. The character of Indiana Jones, Rich Wilde, embarks on a mission to Egypt to uncover ancient artifacts, just as we saw in Pearls of India. The treasure hunt is on, and you can lead the way and win big on this high variance slot.
Book of Dead features 5 reels, 10 paylines, and exciting bonus features. The graphics are quite good, and of course, you’ll find symbols and background images inspired by Ancient Egypt. The game is fully optimized for mobile, and you can win up to £500,000. The highlight of the game is the free spins bonus round, and you can learn all about this amazing game by reading our full review below.
Book of Dead RTP, Variance, and Technical Data
Before we take a closer look at all the exciting features this game has to offer, we think it’s a good idea to reveal the technical details of the game:
- RTP: 96.21%
- Volatility/Variance: High
- Layout: 5×3
- Paylines: 10
- Bonus Features: Expanding symbols, free spins, Risk Game (Double), Wilds
- Bets: 0.01 to 50
- Max Win (coins): 250,000
The RTP (Return to Player) of Book of Dead is quite average, as most slot machines tend to hover around 96% RTP. Of course, RTP stands for Return to Player and indicates how much a slot machine pays out over time. This means the house edge on Book of Dead is 3.79%, which is quite decent.
Attention RTP Ranges!
Book of Dead by Play’n Go has RTP ranges. RTP ranges are a game feature where casinos can adjust the RTP according to their needs. These ranges can be quite broad. For some games, they range from 80% to 97%. For Book of Dead, the RTP ranges are: 96.21%, 94.25%, 91.25%, 87.25%, and 84.18%. Pay attention.
Another thing to note is that this is a high-variance slot, which means you can expect some turbulence and fluctuations in your bankroll while playing. Wins can be quite large when they do come, but don’t expect to win all the time. Adjust your betting level and balance accordingly to deal with the high volatility.
The Book of Dead Review
Rich Wilde is back for his second adventure and treasure hunt, following a dangerous but successful mission in India. This time, he’s heading to Egypt in search of ancient treasures, and guess what, you’re invited to join the expedition. Hang on to your explorer’s hat, because you’re in for quite an adventure.
Book of Dead is a very good video slot, even though some claim it borrows too much from Novomatic's classic Book of Ra (and possibly Lord of the Ocean). Even the title is similar, as are the design and bonus features. Borrowing and being inspired by other successful slots is quite common in the industry, and all that should matter to us is the quality of the game itself. Book of Dead can stand on its own and has proven to be a massive success.
The symbols are all inspired by Ancient Egypt, and you’ll find a total of 11 symbols, including a scatter symbol that also acts as a wild. You can play Book of Dead on any device, whether it’s a mobile, tablet, desktop, or laptop. It’s fully optimized for mobile play, and playing on the go is always fun.
You can win up to 5,000 times your bet in this game if you land Rich Wilde himself 5 times in a row on a payline. The Book of Dead symbol is both a wild and a scatter, and it can replace any other symbol to maximize your winnings. The free spins feature is the most fun bonus feature in the game, and you can even retrigger it, which is always nice.
Bonus Features of Book of Dead
There are 2 main bonus features in this game, and we’ll cover both of them in detail below.
Gamble Feature
You always have the option to gamble your winnings by pressing the “Gamble” button below the reels. This way, you can potentially double or even quadruple your winnings. Guess the correct color of the next card drawn, and you can win a lot of money. Of course, the risk is that you could lose everything.
Free Spins in Book of Dead
The free spins feature is the main attraction of this game, and it’s triggered when you get at least 3 Book of Dead scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. This immediately gives you 10 free spins, and you can increase this number by landing additional scatters during the free spins.
Additionally, a symbol will be randomly selected before the free spins begin, and this symbol will expand to cover a full reel if a winning combination is possible. The selected symbol doesn’t have to be adjacent, but it must be on an active payline.
How to Play
Book of Dead may be a legendary game, but its gameplay remains quite simple. Every developer has its own interface and menu system. We will guide you through everything you need to know to get started and make the most out of the game.
Everything you need is in the hamburger menu in the top right corner. You can view the paytable here, which can scroll and gives you all the information you need about the game’s bonus features. The paytable is not dynamic, though, and shows the amount you win per payline.
This means you can divide each value by the 10 paylines to know how much each symbol pays per total bet. The most rewarding symbol is by far Rich Wilde himself, as he pays 5,000x per bet line. Divide this number by 10, and you’ll see that it pays 500x your total bet for 5 paylines. It may seem a bit complicated, but if you stick to this formula, you’ll catch on quickly.
If you’re unsure about anything, you can consult the game’s rules, where everything is explained in detail. In the settings menu, you can turn the game sound on or off. You can also activate the left-hand mode and fast mode. We recommend the latter, as we always prefer the fastest pace possible when we play.
In the bet menu, you can choose between 1 and 5 coins, as well as a coin value between 0.01 and 1. Ultimately, you can play with a bet range between £0.10 and £100 per spin, then you must decide whether to spin the reels manually or take advantage of the auto-play feature.
The latter allows you to choose between 10 and 100 auto-spins, and you also have advanced options to determine when the feature should stop. And there you have it, you’re now officially ready to join Rich Wilde in his hunt for lost treasures and big wins.
Where to Play Book of Dead?
Given the extreme popularity of this game and the brand's reputation, it’s hard to find a casino that doesn’t offer Book of Dead. Most casinos have placed this game prominently in their lobby, and you essentially have two choices when it comes to spinning this legendary slot. Here, we’ll review both options for you and point you in the right direction.
Play for Real Money
If you’re eager to dive straight into the action and play for real money, this is the best option for you. We scan all casinos daily, and you’ll get a comprehensive look at all the best casinos where you can play this game with a juicy welcome offer. Just follow the link at the top of this page, and you can choose where to play Book of Dead for real money right away.
Play the Free Demo Version
There’s no need to risk any of your money unless you’re 100% sure it’s a game you want to play. Just because it’s very popular doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily like it. Every player has different preferences, but the good news is that you can always check out the free demo version of the game first. Just follow the link at the top of this review, and you can start playing the free demo of Book of Dead immediately.
200 Spins Experience on Book of Dead
Before you launch into your own spinning session on this cult game, you might benefit from how our first 200 spins went. We always test the games we review this way, as it gives us a first impression of what you can expect, even if the results we get are very subjective and far from statistically significant.
We started by checking out the paytable for an overview, then activated the fast spin option and set the total bet to £1 per spin. We always prefer the latter as it’s easier to calculate how much we’re winning per total bet while we monitor the 200-spin session. We then set the auto-spin function to 100 spins (which is the max) and sat back to see what Rich Wilde and his adventurous spirit would find for us.
As expected from this high-variance slot, we had a lot of dead spins and small wins throughout the session. In fact, we barely had any memorable wins in our first 100 spins. We may have won something like 10x once, but we quickly forgot about it if that was the case. We were mentally prepared for this, though, as we had set ourselves up for the bonus round to trigger.
The last 100 spins went pretty much the same as the first 100, but we did have some "bigger" wins of 12x and 16x here. We had to “cheat” a little and spin something like 20 extra spins above the 200 before triggering the all-important free spins feature. Now, our adrenaline was pumping as we knew anything could happen once the book was open.
Unfortunately, we got the royal "J" as the chosen symbol in the “magic book,” and we clicked the spin button a bit disappointed to start. Of course, we had plenty of expanding J’s, but the payout was somewhat limited. In the end, we won a total of 56.5 times our bet, which was barely enough to reach break-even.
That’s the brutal nature of Book of Dead’s volatile slot, and we muttered “book of dead spins” more than once under our breath during the 220-spin session. We can only wish you good luck on your first spins on this game, as you never know what this game is capable of in terms of wins and losses.
Book of Dead Jackpot (Max Win)
There are no progressive or local jackpots on Book of Dead, but there are still plenty of opportunities to win big
